Wexner to screen newsreel of ’19 World Series found buried in Canada

After spending decades trapped in the Canadian permafrost, along with thousands of feet of other footage, a newsreel clip from the 1919 World Series will be shown at the “Rare Baseball Films” program at the Wexner Center for the Arts.

The 1919 World Series was overshadowed by the infamous “Black Sox” scandal, in which members of the Chicago White Sox allegedly threw the series to the Cincinnati Reds. No one was convicted, but several of the White Sox admitted to accepting bribes from gamblers.

“I’m not aware of there being any other footage of the 1919 World Series,” said filmmaker Bill Morrison, who found the clip in the Canadian national archive, “yet it’s inspired who-knows-how-many Hollywood movies.”

The clip, which is almost five minutes long, is only a small part of the 70-minute “Rare Baseball Films” program, but the back story is fascinating.